Acupuncture to treat plantar fasciitis
It’s a common cause of heel pain.
Researchers from Hong Kong Baptist University report benefit with acupuncture.
First, the details.
- 53 people were randomly assigned to a treatment group.
- Needling at the acupoint PC 7: Purported to have a specific effect for heel pain.
- Needling at the acupoint Hegu (LI 4): Has analgesic properties and served here as the control group.
- Treatment was an identical method of manual needling applied to the two acupoints 5 times a week for 2 weeks.
And, the results.
- There were significant differences in reduction in pain scores, favoring acupoint PC 7 at 1 month for morning pain, overall pain, and pressure pain threshold.
- No serious side effects were observed in either group.
The bottom line?
The authors concluded, “Acupuncture can provide pain relief to patient[s] with plantar fasciitis, and… PC 7 is a relatively specific acupoint for heel pain.”
More on plantar fasciitis and electroacupuncture treatment can be found here.
11/27/09 22:50 JR